VIZ Media Publishes My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Manga Chapter in English

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

VIZ Media has published Kōhei Horikoshi’s “My Hero Academia – League of Villains: Undercover” manga chapter in English on its website and app.

The nine-page manga was included in the Boku no Hero Academia Vol. R (My Hero Academia Vol. Rising) book that theatergoers to the My Hero Academia the Movie -Heroes: Rising- film received for free in Japan. The book also included character designs and notes on each character, and an interview with Horikoshi.

My Hero Academia the Movie -Heroes: Rising- opened in Japanese theaters on December 20, 2019. The film ranked at #1 in the United States box office when it opened on February 26, 2020, and has since earned more than US$13 million.

Source: ANN

FUNimation Entertainment Streams the Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? Original Video Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

FUNimation Entertainment has announced on Twitter that it has begun streaming the new original video anime (OVA) for the Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? anime.

The new OVA shipped in Japan on March 25, 2020.

The Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? anime premiered in Japan in July 2019. Aniplex of America licensed the series, and it began simulcasting the anime in July 2019.

Source: ANN

Shin-Ei Animation’s Honorary Chairperson Sankichiro Kusube Passes Away

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Sankichiro Kusube, the honorary chairperson of animation production company Shin-Ei Animation, passed away on March 20, 2020. He was 82 years old at the time of his passing.

After college, Kusube joined Tokyo Movie. He founded Shin-Ei Animation with his older brother Daikichirō Kusube, an animator, in 1976. The younger Kusube became president and chief executive officer in 1990. He worked for the company for 29 years before retiring as honorary chairperson in 2009.

Shin-Ei Animation produces Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon, among other titles.

Source: ANN

D&A Superstar Blogger Award

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Thank you, D&A Anime Blog, for nominating me for your award!

My blog is Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner.

Four things about myself, hmm? Let me see…

1) I recently celebrated my 45th birthday. Yes, in the aniblogging community, I am an “old fart.” LOL!

2) When I’m not blogging, my “day job” is working at a grocery store.

3) I’m also a fan of music, in addition to anime and manga.

4) I live near Seattle with my husband and two of my three kids (one of my kids is currently a college student).

My Top 5 Anime Series

Instead of a “top 5,” I’ll be listing my favorite series alphabetically.

  • Case Closed
  • Fruits Basket
  • Kids on the Slope
  • Naruto franchise (Naruto and Naruto Shippuden)
  • Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers

This was actually kind of hard, because I had to narrow ten choices down to five!

10 Questions

1. How did you get into Blogging?

Before I started blogging, I was actually writing for other websites (sadly, most of them were as a volunteer rather than being paid). I started writing about anime for the BellaOnline website in 2007. In 2011, I began my own blog for manga (which was the beginnings of this blog). I began dabbling a little bit in anime for my blog in 2012, and turned this into an anime and manga blog. In 2013, I came to the decision that I had gone as far as I could at BellaOnline, and I began focusing all of my attention on this blog. This summer, my blog will be nine years old.

2. What’s one of the best posts you’ve ever written on your blog?

Ooh, this is a tough question. I’m having to look back at nearly nine years’ worth of content, and limiting it to the non-news posts. Nothing is really jumping out at me right now.

3. What’s the last anime title (or movie) you’ve watched in 30 days?

I’m finishing up watching the two SHIROBAKO Blu-ray sets that I got around Christmas. For me, this is actually a re-watch, since I saw the series as it was streaming on Crunchyroll. But my husband, who is watching this with me, is seeing it for the first time.

4. If you could go back 10 or 15 years into the past, what would you say to your younger self?

I would tell her to make sure she enjoys being with her kids, because they’re going to grow up faster than she realizes.

5. If you had the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, what three wishes would you wish for?

First, I’d wish away COVID-19. Second, I’d wish for world peace. And third, I’d wish for equality.

6. Who is your biggest influence for blogging and why?

Hmmm… I’m not sure there’s anyone or anything I could truly cite as an influence for my blog.

7. If you could visit Japan, what would be the first thing you’d do?

For the first nine years of my life, my father was in the Navy. He was stationed in Japan from the time I was a year old until I was five. I was so young when I lived there, though, that I hardly have any memory of it. Probably the first thing I’d do would be to try to visit places that were important to me while I was living there.

8. If you could pick one or two anime titles that deserve a second season, what would they be?

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun and The Devil Is a Part-Timer!

9. What are two of your favorite foods and one you wish you could try from another country?

My favorites include spaghetti and country fried steak. I wish I could try some okonomiyaki.

10. Who is your favorite blogger and why?

My favorite would have to Karandi at 100 Word Anime. I appreciate how she writes her reviews as well as the style of her opinion pieces.

My Nominations

Here are the rules for those who I nominated:

1. Add the D&A Superstar Blogger Award logo to your nomination post
2. List the name of your blog (add a link) and tell us 4 things about yourself
3. List your Top 5 anime shows (or characters)
4. Answer the 10 questions listed in bold below this post
5. Nominate at least 10 other blogs of your choice

  • How did you get into Blogging?
  • What’s one of the best posts you’ve ever written on your blog?
  • What’s the last anime title (or movie) you’ve watched in 30 days?
  • If you could go back 10 or 15 years into the past, what would you say to your younger self?
  • If you had the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, what three wishes would you wish for?
  • Who is your biggest influence for blogging and why?
  • If you could visit Japan, what would be the first thing you’d do?
  • If you could pick one or two anime titles that deserve a second season, what would they be?
  • What are two of your favorite foods and one you wish you could try from another country?
  • Who is your favorite blogger and why?

Crunchyroll to Simulcast the Second Season of the Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Anime in July 2020

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Crunchyroll has announced that it will begin simulcasting the second season of the Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- anime in July 2020 in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The anime’s second season was delayed from April 2020 to July 2020. The staff explained that “the global issues of the COVID-19 coronavirus illness have had a big effect on the production” of the show.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Director’s Cut, an updated version of the television anime’s first season, premiered on January 1, 2020. The new edit of the first 25-episode season adds some new footage and reworks the episodes to run in a one-hour timeslot. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime.

Source: ANN

GKIDS Licenses the Lupin III THE FIRST Anime Film

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it has licensed Lupin III THE FIRST, the first 3D CG feature-length anime film in Monkey Punch’s Lupin III franchise. The film will open in North America in 2020 with English subtitles and an English dub.

The film’s story focuses on Lupin teaming up with a woman named Leticia to steal the Bresson Diary, a treasure that even the first generation Arsène Lupin could not steal.

Lupin III THE FIRST opened in Japanese theaters on December 6, 2019.

Source: ANN

Anime Soundtrack Review: Tiger & Bunny Original Soundtrack

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Tiger & Bunny Original Soundtrack is primarily a soundtrack of background score music from the anime series.

Tiger & Bunny Original Soundtrack
Publisher: Lantis Record. Co., Ltd.
Release Date: October 19, 2011

There are 44 tracks over this two CD set. The first disc has 26 tracks, and they are all background score pieces. The second disc contains 18 tracks, and the final track is the song that Blue Rose, Wild Tiger, and Barnaby perform under the name B.T.B.

If you’re familiar with the Tiger & Bunny anime, you will instantly recognize quite a few of the score pieces that are on the soundtrack. The opening track, “HEROES N.C.1978” is the music that appears in the very first scene of the series. It also serves as the main musical theme for the series, as you hear elements from this piece sprinkled throughout some of the other pieces on the soundtrack. You can think of this as the “main theme” for Tiger & Bunny. We hear part of “HEROES N.C.1978” on such pieces as “The Ice Princess” (Blue Rose’s theme), “Roar Like a Tiger!” (Wild Tiger’s theme), and “NEXT=Power.”

The second track, “The Hero of Heroes,” is one that’s associated with announcing the winner of Hero TV, as well as other times that the heroes of the series are recognized for their achievements.

I also have a fondness for “Kotetsu” (Kotetsu’s theme song), because there’s just something about it that grabs me. “Power for the Future” is another one of the pieces that I recognize upon hearing it, because it really jumps out and makes the listener take notice. “Barnaby” (Barnaby’s theme song) is focused more on the piano and the operatic vocals in comparison to the more rock-oriented sound of the other songs in the score, which really makes this stand out. And this works well with Barnaby’s character. The musical theme of “Barnaby” also appears in “False Memory,” the final song on the first disc.

The tracks on the second disc tend to sound a little “darker” when compared to most of the score pieces on the first disc. But considering where in the series these tracks would have shown up, this makes a lot of sense.  A couple of exceptions are “The Hero Buff” and “Office Hours,” because these pieces focus primarily on acoustic guitar and piano, and they both have a more upbeat and happier sound to them.

In some respects, after having such a “darker” sound on most of disc two, it’s a little jarring at first to include the upbeat B.T.B. vocal track here. However, it’s a nice change of pace and a more uplifting way of ending the soundtrack. I’m glad to see that this track was included.

If you’re a fan of the Tiger & Bunny anime, I would recommend adding Tiger & Bunny Original Soundtrack to your anime music library. The best way to acquire this soundtrack is to look around at sites that sell Japanese import CDs and trying to find the best deal.